From process to operating procedure, and back.
An AI wizard writes the SOP starting from the flow. Then each chapter becomes the guidance the operator sees at the right stage.
- For
- Compliance
- Process owner
The problem
Operating procedures are PDFs kept apart from the work: someone writes them, someone else approves them, and the people doing the work never open them. When the process changes, nobody knows which paragraphs have become false. In an audit, procedure and practice tell two different stories. The quality manager ends up writing from scratch documents that describe what the system already knows, while the operator, at the moment they need guidance, has nothing at hand in the stage they are working on. FlowSharp mends this tear: the procedure is born from the flow, each chapter is tied to its stage, and future differences become explicit alerts instead of surprises at review time.
SOP wizard · step 2 of 3
Banded document
How it works
- 1
Start the wizard from the flowchart
Three steps: options (Italian or English, instructions for the AI, stable code), generation, review. The stable code identifies the procedure over time, even as versions follow one another.
- 2
The AI writes chapter by chapter
Fixed structure: purpose and scope, roles and responsibilities, conventions, one chapter for each stage (including system, AI, connector and event activities), transitions, timings and exceptions. Progress shows "Chapter k of N"; a chapter that fails retries on its own.
- 3
Review the gaps
Where information is missing the AI writes "[TO VERIFY: …]", with a counter. You edit, or regenerate the single chapter. The AI does not invent to fill gaps: it declares them, and human review closes them.
- 4
Link the procedure to the process
With "Link chapters to stages and tasks" each chapter becomes the stage guidance, visible to the operator in the current-state card. The procedure stops being a distant PDF and becomes part of daily work.
Specifications
| Languages | Italian and English |
|---|---|
| Structure | 5 fixed blocks + 1 chapter per stage |
| Gaps | marked "[TO VERIFY]" and counted |
| Versions | immutable, with author, change note and content fingerprint |
| Realignment | links flagged "to realign" when a new version is released |
| Usage limit | 100 procedure versions per day per organization |
An operational example: the three-step wizard
Conversion to a standard operating procedure happens in a three-step wizard. We are at step two of three and the system is working on chapter four of nine. The chapter preview shows the produced text and, where the information is not in the flow, it does not invent: it inserts a visible placeholder, for example [TO VERIFY: approval threshold]. At the end of the chapter the count shows two gaps. Whoever maintains the procedure therefore knows exactly where to intervene: complete the threshold, confirm the doubtful points and then continue. The diagram beside it is illustrative and shows the wizard structure, not an official screenshot. The principle is that AI drafts from what the flow already says and openly declares what it does not know, instead of filling gaps with plausible text.
How to verify the procedure before adopting it
A generated procedure must be approved by whoever answers for the process. First, search for all TO VERIFY placeholders: as long as one remains the document is not finished, and the gap count tells you how many are left. Then compare the chapters with the flow: roles, steps and constraints must match, because the procedure must describe the real process and not a tidied-up version. Finally check version and status, so that the procedure states which revision of the flow it derives from. From a governance viewpoint, the fact that gaps are explicit is the main guarantee: no unverified content can pass as fact. Because the conversion uses AI, the call appears in the AI call log with cost and attribution, which makes it possible to account for how the document was produced.
Related features
- Process Chart in three automatic layoutsThe documentation view of the flow in three layouts, read from the same flow structure.
- Versioned procedures and stage guidesA procedure register with immutable versions, citable sections and guides operators find in the case.
- Expected output for every taskA dedicated field up to 300 characters, with AI suggestion, that travels through all documentation.
- Guidance and "Do It" inside the taskEmbedded content and instructions with the real case data already filled in.
- Create with AI: structure first, detail secondDescribe the process in words: the AI draws stages and arrows first, then tasks, assignees and timings.
Use cases
Frequently asked questions
Does the procedure update itself when I change the process?
No, deliberately: versions are immutable. FlowSharp flags which links are "to realign" and you can regenerate individual chapters.
Can I import a procedure I already have?
Yes: the registry accepts Markdown text or text extracted from a PDF, with citable sections to link to stages and tasks.
Does the operator see the whole procedure?
They see the section relevant to the stage they are working in, in the current-state card.
Does the AI read case data?
No: it works on the structure of the process, not on the content of cases.